The party quickly puts the pairs of traders behind them, and reaches the highest point of the ridge that you are assuming the Soul Well complex is on. Paritosh and Lady Lyra attempt to disable the binding spell yet are thwarted. The guess is that this is a priests' entrance and heavily protected. The party calculates then that a maintenance entrance might be on the opposite side of the ridge from the original entrance and heads this way.
Moving this way, avoiding the apparent tracks of either Dark Traders or some similar guard, you find what seems to be another entrance to complex but this one with double doors, with all magic apparently removed and the physical lock intact but somewhat damaged by having been repeatedly picked - clearly this is clearly the Dark Traders themselves gained entrance to the complex. Disable device 15 to open it, may be repeated every ten minutes. A patrol may arrive here in 20 minutes also (they move in a somewhat mechanical schedule).
Paritosh attempts to make short work of the entrance...
... and succeeds.
As the party looks on, Paritosh, by inserting the long, thin shard of mithral and wiggling it different ways, manages to open the moss and weed covered stone doors in front of you.
Turning inward soundlessly the door reveal a rectangular passage slopping downward at a 10% angle, 7' high and 15' wide. A ray of sun illuminates the first twenty feet and then darkness - for those without dark vision. For those with dark vision and for the others once their eyes adjust... Here and there as the passage goes down, clumps of blue and purple substance can be seen, glowing with the faintest iridescence.
As the doors open, a sense of dislocation and disorientation sweeps over each character. Those who have been investigating the Soul Well realize - here was once great and powerful magical device, channeling soul energies for good (or at least neutral) ends. Now it's shut down and has had parts looted. The result is weird mental effects, an abandoned nuclear reactor of the soul. Still, the effects seems pretty light once you notice. Getting ready and beginning movement down towards the center seems in order - of course the effect will be more powerful there but the sooner you start, the sooner you may finish.
Those with the spellcraft skill maybe attempt to use fashion some degree of protection from phenomena within and you may be able to think of other measures.
More than one experience is fine. The end of the skin bats is one experience Arlo, Lady Lyra and Moira shared, of course.
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* Arlo has seen horrors no one should have to witness. Entire continental shelves being ripped up and thrown into space, mountains crushing his family members, asteroids destroying his ancestral home, cathedrals dedicated to the Gods of Good reduced to rubble.
These images greet Arlo's sleep nearly every night.
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Realizing something is trying to mess with her mind, Anzarra tries to block it out.
Realizing that isn't working, she tries to think of ways that she could protect against this encroaching mental chaos.
While she thinks, she starts singing a soft, low, comforting song, trying to bolster the team against the magical effects.
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If all the minds to enter this space hers was the most alien.
Her AI core picked up the hacking attempt at once.
Internal firewalls looking down her synthetic emotion nodes.
psychic Algos now checked her sensory inputs for suspect data.
Her personally was sub-ducted to a locked vault deep in her core.
"Target asatained, proceeding"
She was more mechanical than ever here, her voice tone flat.
There seemed to be no empathy in it at all.
She started to make her way into the device.
Moira walks into the soul well and squints as her eyes adjust to the lack of light. She pats her pockets and lets out a soft curse. "I forgot to bring a light, is anyone else here as blind and daft as me? Anyone have a light?"
As the unsettling sensations pass, she roots around in her pack and pulls out a tightly wrapped package of parchment paper. She unwrap it to reveal a handful of small, doughy, corkscrew pastries covered in sugar and spices. "Now, I was going to save these until we finished the mission. But they might help settle the stomach and soothe the soul. May I present to you: Skipling Tails, an Insfal specialty." They're okay, but Moira is clearly not a particularly skilled chef.
Arlo grimaces, then searches his backpack for a small marble. The dwarf hands it to the human. "Ioun torch", Arlo grumbles. "Command word: daybreak."
Moira bows her head formally and says to the dwarf, "I am indebted to you, sir," before she musses his hair playfully, exclaiming "Daybreak!" and tossing the stone into the air. She continues into the well, whistling as she goes.
Anzarra activates her ioun torch as well, and continues with the with group, still singing.
So the party descends into the tunnel []. The stonework is akin to an early primitive monument [Babylonian or Sumerian or etc] but far better preserved. After about 300 feet, the passage levels out and continues.
During this time, the blue lights you noticed earlier are more numerous but still weaker than the magical light. As you continue down the corridor, earie the memories of death seem to spring to mind[], made more vivid by the lights. Notably, some lights are pure blue and seem not to create an effect but other lights shade to purple and a little green and these tend evoke memories and create this sense of dislocation.
As you continue, in a couple places of the level section, some of the ceiling blocks have slipped and you have to move through a shorter, 4' high, 8' wide area. Here, you notice scrape marks, as if something large was pushed through the passage recently.
I will assume you cautiously have one character to scout ahead for traps and dangers. After 200 feet on the level area, the scout sees an archway 100 further, at the edge of vision, to the left of the passage, perhaps leading to a room. Roll stealth.
If the stealth roll is failed, it immediately at the first party member (I'd guess Arlo if you're together) and hitting AC 26, does 16 points with a slam attack.
This is a purely clockwork device - anyone with disable device can attempt to shut it down (You'd guess you'd need between 25-30 and you'd provoke an attack of opportunity). The device is AC: 22, construct characteristics.
If the stealth roll succeeded, you looking at a not yet activated automaton. You can attack, attempt to disable or move on (but the whole party has to roll 18 stealth not to activate it.
Vision of his destroyed world flashed through his mind..which was nothing new. Pain is pain. Like always, Arlo pushes through.
"$#|+!" The dwarf curses under his breath, hearing the tell-tale sign of a spring trap.
Assume the entire party has arrived at the door, Arlo in front, and is confronting this Silver-metal clockwork automaton (see spoilers above).
She moved ahead with the others
She was just about informed Arlo of the trap when he pushed throw and "click"
Something moved ahead and slammed into them,
She fell and damaged but her nanites started to fix the damage almost at once.
As it passed her she sprang back up and seeing it was a construct, slapped her hand onto it. Her circuitry flared as her nanites flooded the internal working of the device.
Where the worked to power it off.
Coming up behind the group and seeing the now-disabled and strangely disturbing danger, Anzarra breathes a sigh of relief, and then looks past the still automaton to the room beyond.
She does not move as if uncaring about her own safety.
The automaton is clearly not programmed to defend itself against a clever disabling attack. Hits ac 18 for 6 points of damage (might hit Lyra if she's flat footed).
It goes to hit her but she bats the weak attack aside. Once its dead she stands back.
Behind the automaton is a largish room that might have been a store room when the complex would built. It also appears to have to used as that more recently. There's dust and splinters of wood on the ground (like the wood used for the simple pallets used in Ovium). The wall are blank except for an area of stone that might have been a inlaid once but someone spent time trying to erase - but did not fully succeed at. A close look reveals map, which might well be a map of the complex ( (any writing is now gone but outline can still be seen). It's more like a series of maps of rooms with dots connecting than a to-scale map. It still gives the impression the passage you are on continues forward and then splits to pass by four smaller rooms. The split joins together and continue nearly to a circular area.
Following the passage forward to the complex of four rooms, the eerie sensations only get stronger. Arriving at the rooms, you discover two of the rooms are open and mostly empty aside from several tables with strange stone shapes carved into and other strange geometric shapes rising out of them, making angles, nooks and other shapes [Knowledge Arcana 25 to figure something out about them]. Each table has a different shape.
The other two rooms (furthest along each passage) have doors that are magically locked [Disable device 30 to open].
The passage leading forward has a virtual wall of the blue and purple lights 30' past where the two passages rejoin.
Moira investigates the geometric shapes in the rooms but can't make any sense of them.
Anzarra also takes a look at the tables with geometric shapes.
Anzarra is able to determine that these tables were likely part of a work-area for working raw soul gem material into finished pieces. You'd guess also the finished pieces fit together like parquetry.
Anzarra relays the information that she has discovered to the group, also searching the room to see if there is anything of worth.
Arlo assists in helping Anzarra secure the room.
Paritosh and Moonbeam move to the magical doors, and try to open them...
... "Nope, those are beyond my ken. I am most sorry."
Paritosh and Moonbeam will fly around the room seeking other means of egress, and anything else of interest.
+2 Urban, +FE Bonus
A careful search of the two open rooms seems to indicate they are quite similar to the closed rooms, that all four rooms were once used for working soul gems, that the open rooms were likely been reopened and used in the last few months and the tools and machinery in the open rooms was removed taken down the passage. The careful observation of the open room's door ways gives clues to the magic used in the closed doors (+3). And ... there are two closed each doors, that each character can roll disable device on.
Also, see map -- a passage way continues past all four rooms, just more dense with the blue lights, not blocked.
Excuse typos, no editing to conserve battery life.
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Door 1
Door 2
Seeing the others trying to get to door open she walks over and once more lets her nanites enter the locks. Unpicking them form the inside.
There is a Click as each is unpicked. As she does so the circuitries under her skin glow and keeps glowing giving off a blue light. It is now clear she is not human.
When done she steps back so the others can enter.
"Obstacles removed"
Is all she says in a flat mechanical tone.
Thank you Lyra. ... Are you okay?
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"I am operating at 94% capacity, with only slight damage Anzarra"
She says back again in a flat mechanical voice.
She stands still unblinking
"Don't worry, everyone. I've got this", Arlo said, with some concern in his words. The dwarf reached up and started snapping his fingers near Lyra's eye level. "C'mon Lyra. Reboot, I think you said. Reboot. Come on, girl."
"I say, does this happen often?"
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"Only on real challenging days", answered Arlo, still focusing his attention on the android. "C'mon darling. Reboot. Restart."
Actually, if she can come out of this later, this might be better for now. She seems to be beyond the negative mental aspect of this place. Should we just continue, or is she in danger when she gets like this?
"She's got herself under control. Lyra, you'll bring herself back around when you feel she must, yeah? Can you tell us a joke though?"
So concerned with Lyra's situation is the party that they barely notice the two work rooms that she has opened ... until a small voice is heard ... (speaking telepathically) ... "Oh such a mess out here. The diagnostic signal I sent out a short time ago indicates a variety of machinery in disrepair... such is to be expected after ... what is it? An eon of stasis. Still, I assumes you know sacred codes if you have come this far ... but, oh dear, oh dear, two rooms opened and swept nearly clean... what explanation do you have for this? More, I sense damage to the soul matrix... looters, marauders, where is Omchek, my counterpart!?!?... the guardian, if she survives, will furious... explain yourselves this instant or I will prepare to do battle ... I am a mere crafter-spirit but I am not afraid... From inside the more Northern door, a glowing orange light appears, seeming to almost coalesce to a gnome-sized humanoid figure as it broadcasts this message, then fade again. Lyra is standing near the door and the rest of the party behind her, closer to the cleared room with the strange desk (and folks barely glanced at the first room Lyra open).
Moira holds out an open hand to where the creature was.
"Calm there, little one. There have been intruders here, trying to steal from this temple and corrupt its spirit to control the lives of the people of this world. We're here to help set thing right. Can you tell us what we need to do to help?"
Paritosh felt like he was having the weirdest day, but that strange voice really was offputting. He patted Moonbean on the head, ”easy girl. Let the nice human talk to the creepy bugger, and we’ll see how that goes. There’s time enough for fighting when we’re told.” Paritosh braces himself mentally for a physical conflict, in case Moira’s words don’t get the job done.
The orange ball pulses uncertainly...
Hmm, hmm, that makes sense... but how do I know you are not here for further destruction... what proof can you show me... what proof could you show after all this time... all I could do is scan you... and you seem fine - for now... What do you wish to do? (those who might detect such things can sense detect good/evil being cast as well as some augery-type spell) ... the uncertain pulsing continues.
We wish to explore this place, and also to acquire soul gems with which to make devices that can counteract the evil in this world. If it is within our power, we also wish to assist you in repairing this place and ridding it of evil.
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"Don't worry, everyone. I've got this", Arlo said, with some concern in his words. The dwarf reached up and started snapping his fingers near Lyra's eye level. "C'mon Lyra. Reboot, I think you said. Reboot. Come on, girl."
On Arlo saying Reboot and snapping his fingers, Lyra's eyes roll back into her head. Then come back again, looking at Arlo, she blinks.
"Sorry Arlo, something tried to hack my AI core, What have I missed?"
As she takes in the others and looks around.
The thing continues as above...
"Soul Gems"? An interesting term for the elements of the aetheric substratum. I can see in your mind you consider them separate things ... but what might look like "gems", are really fragments of a vast spiritual mindscape, a mindscape that brings all people of Oblium closer to each other and to the glory of Abadar... breaking it would be a disaster...
It stops, clearly upset...
Pardon me, I just waking up after millennium. I can see in your mind... Oblium is no more, the spirit guides are gone. Empires have risen and fallen. Persons unknown have come and violently looted the aetheric substratum. And you, now ask, very nicely, if you can loot more... let me think. The substratum has a guardian. Indeed, the guardian is part of the substratum, what you might call the crystal matrix. If ignorant people have mindlessly broken pieces of the substratum off, this is the dysfunction I feel, it likely affects you also. So, the first task, I suggest, if you here for good, is heal this substratum. We don't need to retrieve the stolen substratum, though that would be nice. We just need tools, and the help of the guardian. Who is likely insane , due to the broken matrix... a riddle I think.... what shall we do? If you need substratum, this workshop could produce it... with materials and my aid. Perhaps a bargain if you could affect a repair...
Anzarra looks around at the workshop, trying to figure out what needs to be repaired, and if they can do what the weird orange light asks.
On Arlo saying Reboot and snapping his fingers, Lyra's eyes roll back into her head. Then come back again, looking at Arlo, she blinks.
"Sorry Arlo, something tried to hack my AI core, What have I missed?"
"You used your nannas' to open a door then you went blank", the dwarf said, with concern still in his eyes.
Paritosh is simply overwhelmed by the amount of information coming his way that seems entirely beyond him. He tries processing some of the words, but his world paradigm fails him completely. He does understand that something has been stolen, and something broken though. He looks around to see if anything was missing or broken...
+2 Urban, +FE Bonus
"What is your name, little one? The guardian attacked us on our way in - it didn't ask us to talk as you did. We turned it off but otherwise did not harm it. If we turn it back on, can you convince it not to attack us? And in terms of looting, we won't take any gems if doing so will damage the substrates anymore, we don't need them that badly. I'm not convinced we need them at all. But if you can help us create some, that would be appreciated."
"You used your nannas' to open a door then you went blank", the dwarf said, with concern still in his eyes.
She looks at her side, a gash and blood, she runs her hands over it.
"I seem to have taken some damage. Was I in a fight?"
She uses some tech magic and cleans up the wound.
But there is still a cut there. She says to Arlo,
"Don't look so worried, just personality shunted is all. Not as if you have not seen me do it before, just odd I don't have any memory of what happened while shunted."
She runs her neck.
"Must be this place, you said I opened a door with my nanites and then shunted"
She looked puzzled
"I best be careful here, a little to much magic"
Then with a thankful look
"But you had my back"
She then does something very out of character, she bends down and kisses him on the check. Straightening back up she says.
"Thank you Arlo'
The Orange ball contracts a bit, then coalesces in a orange, hairless gnome-like figure in dark gray coveralls and speaks out loud in archaic common: This may make our communication easier my friends. I am Imcheck, crafter-spirit of the now-sadly-disolved divine empire of Oblium. I thank you if you avoid calling me 'little one' but no matter. As I awakened and spoke with you, I also scanned the area and I assure you the guardian is still active and quite mad, in both sense of the word. Perhaps you encountered some other danger earlier.
The creature does it's best to smile ingratiatingly but it is somewhat stiff, clearly a construct or summoned creature.
What are your names? What Master do you serve? Tell me more of your purpose so I can aid you. The substrate now channels thoughts and spirits in a confused and improper direction, focusing on death, it seems. With the Guardian bereft of its senses, it may be quite dangerous to approach the main substrate but this is what I believe must be done to heal this ancient site. I can aid you with information, advice or in crafting tools. I cannot leave this general area.
Also, it appears one of your group is a construct such as myself and may have sustained damage. This is sad. My skills and this workshop would be at your disposal for this.